


In the Shadow of Truth

by parabacrybaby



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Blue collar! Alec, Brotp, College! Magnus, Coming of Age, Fluff, Gen, Grocery Store, M/M, Malec, Multi, Other, Pan Izzy, Trans!Jace, bi maia, human!AU, i really havent exactly figured out what im doing im sorry, jimon, jocelyn is still dead sorry, maiaalec brotp!, otp, simonmaia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 05:20:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parabacrybaby/pseuds/parabacrybaby
Summary: Alec Lightwood is a family man. Oldest of 4 siblings, he works at a local grocery store, The Institute. After his parent’s divorce, Alec decides he needs to work full time after high school to help around the house and take care of his mother and his siblings. Alec is gunning for the head cashier position, and he thinks he might have it, until one day a new girl is hired, and Alec thinks he might have lost his chance to better help his family. Her name is Maia, and what Alec thought would be a grueling competition for the top turns into a beautiful friendship, but not without bumps along the way. With Maia in his life, Alec learns a lot about himself, who he is and what he wants, but is he willing to take the step he needs to to fulfill his own happiness?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Please be aware of a couple of things:  
> 1) The characters are not exactly as they are from the books. I have moved a lot of dynamics around and also carefully thought out who and why I put who I put in this novel. I might add more characters along the way most likely.  
> 2) I have a handful of scenes played out in my head, but I haven't entirely figured out the specific course I am taking this fic, especially with ships.  
> 3) yes there is also a lot of malec in here, so much malec.

The sharp repetitive ringing of the alarm clock amplified off of the cool surface of the hardwood floor. Alec Lightwood rolled over onto his back and sighed deeply as he sat up in bed. He yawned and reached over to his bedside table, shutting off the rhythmic noise blaring from the speakers of the clock. Alec was always the first to rise in the morning, always exactly at 5:45 am. He had a routine: 5:45 am, get up, do yoga for 15 minutes. 6:00-6:30am, wake up his siblings, go downstairs, start the coffee pot, and start making everyone’s breakfast and lunch.  6:30-6:45am: Eat breakfast with his family. By 6:45 everyone else is fed and finishing getting ready for school and Alec takes his turn showering and getting ready.

After he finished his sun salutations, he walked down the hall to his sister Isabelle’s room. “Knock, knock, time to get up.” Alec chirped softly as he slowly opening his sister’s door. No response was given. Alec crossed his arms as he stood in the doorway, now fully open and letting in as much light as possible from the window at the end of the hall outside her room. “Izzy, come on, you have to get up.”

“Nhhhhh,” Isabelle whined, shortly murmuring something into her pillow afterwards. “Izzy.” Alec’s voice went hard, his patience waning.

“Nhhhhh okay I’m getting up. Ugh.”  Isabelle pushed herself up off of her bed. Alec rolled his eyes as he left her to start her morning, moving into his mother’s room next. Alec was the oldest of four siblings and he took his job as big brother very seriously, especially after his parents’ divorce almost two years ago. His mother had taken a hit both financially and emotionally with the absence and betrayal of his father, and Alec took it upon himself to take his father’s place as best he could. He quietly tip toed over to her side of the bed and rubbed her back. “Mom, time to get up.” Maryse Lightwood rubbed her face into her pillow before turning to look at her son, her eyes half closed and dazed as she gave him a small smile. “Robert, how are you up so early?” she croaked. Alec’s face turned stark white as the blood drained from his cheeks. Maryse was still having a hard time with the absence of her husband, and as strong as Alec tried to be for her, she had never mistaken him for his father before. “Mom, it’s me, Alec.” He mumbled.

Maryse’s eyes glazed over and shot open in horror as she realized what she had just said. “Alec, oh honey, I’m sorry I—“she began to choke out an apology, but Alec cut her off. “It’s okay, it’s time to get up though. Breakfast will be ready in 30.” He replied gently and shuffled out of the room.

The Lightwood residence was rather quiet nowadays; Robert took Alec’s youngest brother Max with him after the divorce settled, and Alec’s adoptive brother and best friend Jace had moved into the dorms of the local college when he and Alec graduated high school. All who remained were Alec, Izzy, and Maryse. Alec was pouring his mother’s cup of coffee when she came down the stairs in her work clothes; Maryse was a lawyer. She owned a law firm that served the tri state area, so she was not as home as often as she or her children had liked. Mornings were one of the few times Alec and his siblings regularly got to see their mother, and Alec had cherished it. Nowadays, though, their mornings were often awkward with half of the family missing. Alec’s father gained custody of Max by using their mother’s profession against her, so scheduling family time to see Max became impossible. Alec knew it ate away at her, because it ate away at him that the courts didn’t think his mother was capable, and Max was just a tool for his father to spite his mother.

“Morning, mother,” Alec greeted her with a smile and handed her the mug. “Dark roast, 1 spoon of brown sugar and a splash of soymilk.” Alec had made so much coffee for his family he remembered how each of them liked it.

“Just how I like it. Good morning, Alec.” She kissed her son on the cheek and walked over to the breakfast nook and took her seat. “Breakfast is almost ready,” Alec declared as he tossed chopped spinach into the egg whites he was scrambling over the stove. “Izzy! Get down here or I’m eating your breakfast.” Alec shouted. They heard fast scuttling above them followed by quick stomps as Isabelle ran down the stairs. “Sorry, I stayed up late studying for my AP bio test, Mr. Aldertree is kicking my ass.”

“Language!” Alec and Maryse barked in unison. When Alec stepped in for Robert, he and his mother became in sync with reprimanding his siblings. Alec was a lot like his mother, and like his mother, he didn’t actually care if Isabelle cursed, but there is a role to play. “Yikes, okay,” Izzy retorted as she sat next to her mother, opening up a compact mirror to look at her face. “Oh my god, I look horrible.” She gasped. Like most people, Isabelle saw flaws in herself that only she could see. She always went to school with a full face of makeup that looked professionally done, her hair was always glossy and smooth and frizz-free, and she somehow managed to get away with gracefully walking the hallways in 5 inch heels. Even without all of that, she was still incredible beautiful. Regardless, his little sister always found a way to pick herself apart. Today was no exception, but Alec knew better than to argue with her.

“You look great, but maybe you shouldn’t stay up so late then, hmm? You need your sleep. Don’t want crow’s feet.” Maryse interjected as she sipped her coffee. Izzy shut her compact mirror as Alec served his mother and sister their plates before fixing his own and joining his family to eat. “Well, if you can get Aldertree to stop assigning these barbaric last minute tests, I’ll go to bed at 8pm every night.” They spent the next 20 minutes enjoying breakfast and each other’s company before Maryse had to leave for work.

“I’ll be working late tonight. Tomorrow is Max’s visitation night so you both better be home by 4pm. I love you both.” She kissed her children on the cheek and stepped out the front door, a warriors mask painted over her expression to take on the world. Alec proceeded to finish his morning routine while Izzy cleaned the kitchen. He came down stairs 10 minutes later strutting a simple black collared, short-sleeve shirt and khaki pants, the name “The Institute” embroidered on the left side of his shirt. His junior year of high school, he and Jace got jobs at The Institute to help the family finances. The Institute was a local bulk grocery store that catered to all of the day cares, preschools and churches in town. In the past year and a half Alec had worked his way up from stocker to cashier, and he was proud of the effort he put in at his job. Upon graduation, Alec decided he wanted to pursue working full time and aim to nab the spot for Front End Customer Service Coordinator. Izzy was still in high school and had big dreams for college, and his mother had to pay child support for Max, so Alec took one for the team.

Meanwhile, Alec hadn’t really thought about what he wanted after high school once his father left. So he just continued to do his duty to his family, and he was fine with that.

“God, I could never do that. I don’t understand how you manage.” Izzy exclaimed as she dried her hands. “What, you mean cook edible food?” Alec joked as he open the refrigerator to grab their lunches, handing Isabelle her lunch bag. Izzy shoved her brother in jest. “You know I meant wearing that hideous outfit. Get me to school before I’m late, big brother.” She instructed, a slightly humorous tone lining her voice as she grabbed her bag and walked towards the front door, Alec trailing behind her shortly after.

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know your thoughts and stay tuned!


End file.
